Hypothermic cardioplegia administration set

ABSTRACT

The invention is an improved delivery system for injecting a cardioplegic solution made mostly of a patient&#39;s own blood into his heart in order to arrest it. The delivery system is used in combination with a cardiopulmonary bypass apparatus which includes an oxygenator, a roller pump, and typing connecting the patient&#39;s heart to the oxygenator so that patient&#39;s blood will flow into the oxygenator and the roller pump will pump it out of the oxygenator back into the patient&#39;s heart. The delivery system includes a blood bag for storing a portion of the patient&#39;s blood, a Y-shaped tubing having a first end with a single opening and a second end with a pair of openings with the single end mechanically coupled to the oxygenator so that the blood will travel from the oxygenator into the Y-shaped tubing, and a heat exchanger disposed between the blood bag and one of the pair of openings of the second end of the Y-shaped tubing and connected thereto so that blood may be pumped from the oxygenator through the heat exchanger into the blood bag by a first small roller pump. The delivery system also includes a stopcock which is connected to the other opening at the second end of the Y-shaped tubing and is also connected to the blood bag so that drugs may be injected into the patient&#39;s blood in the blood bag in order to form the cardioplegic solution through the stopcock. A clamping device is used to first clamp off second opening of the Y-shaped tubing and then to clamp off first end thereof. There is also an output tubing and a second small roller pump for pumping the cardioplegic solution into the heart in order to arrest it.



